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Yukjeon
Egg-battered fried beef
육전: paper-thin slices of beef dipped in flour and egg and fried until golden
In Gwangju, yukjeon is a restaurant meal in its own right: the server sits by a hot plate at your table and fries slice after slice of egg-coated beef, handing them over while they're still sizzling. Elsewhere in Korea it's more often a festive pancake, made for Chuseok and Lunar New Year along with other jeon. The beef is cut very thin, so it cooks in the time it takes the egg to set. Gwangju places serve it with a sharp salad of finely shredded spring onion and a little salt and sesame oil for dipping. Chef's tip: half-freeze the beef for 40 minutes before slicing; firm meat is easy to cut into slices 2 to 3 mm thick.
- Total time
- 25 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 3
Ingredients
For the beef
- 14 oz lean beef topside or top roundsliced 2 to 3 mm thick
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
For the coating
- 1 ¾ oz plain flouror glutinous rice flour for a softer coat
- 3 eggs
- 1 pinch salt
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
For the spring onion salad
- 4 spring onionsshredded into fine strips
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp toasted sesame seeds
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Lay 14 oz lean beef topside or top round out on kitchen paper and press another sheet on top to soak up the juices. Common mistake: skipping this. Wet meat makes the flour gluey and the egg slides off in the pan.
Step 2: Season the slices on both sides with ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp black pepper and 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, and leave for 5 minutes.
5 minStep 3: Beat 3 eggs with 1 pinch salt in a shallow dish. Spread 1 ¾ oz plain flour on a plate.
Step 4: Toss 4 spring onions with ½ tsp Korean chilli flakes (gochugaru), 1 tsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp soy sauce and ½ tsp toasted sesame seeds just before you start frying, so it stays crisp.
Step 5: Heat 1 tablespoon of 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a large frying pan over a medium-low heat. Dust a few slices of beef in flour, shake off the excess, then dip them in egg and lay them flat in the pan.
1 minStep 6: Fry for about 1½ minutes, until the egg underneath is set and pale golden, then turn and fry for 1 minute more. The thin beef is cooked through when no pink juice shows at the edges. If the egg browns before the meat is done, turn the heat down.
3 minStep 7: Fry the rest in batches, adding the remaining 3 tbsp vegetable oil a little at a time and wiping out any burnt bits of egg between batches.
8 minStep 8: Serve hot with the spring onion salad on the side. Wrap a slice of beef around a little salad to eat.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 410 kcal
- Protein
- 37 g
- Carbs
- 15 g
- Fat
- 22 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does yukjeon take?
- About 25 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 3 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of toasted sesame oil?
- Toasted sesame seeds ground with a little vegetable oil.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
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